Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 January 1913 — HOW PARCEL POST RATES HUE FIXED [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOW PARCEL POST RATES HUE FIXED

I OFFICIAL PARCEL POST MAP. n” This map is for use only in unit 1071, in which the city of Washington - is located. Numbered squares' represent units of circles indicate boundaries of zones.

Charges Are Regulated Under the Zone System. BIG ENTERPRISE LAUNCHED Eleven Pounds Is the Limit In Weight for a Single Package— Anything That Will Not Injure Other Mali Can Be Sent ■_ By EDWARD B. CLARK. With the coming of the New Year the United States government will enter into a new field of enterpriser--, the. transmittal of merchandise by what is known as the parcel post. For years there has been a demand for such a system of inexpensive transmittal of packages. The camps of favor and disfavor of the parcel post scheme have been about equally Finally at the last session of congress a bill was passed which will put the plan into operation, but only it must be said in little more than an experimental way. It is the intention of Uncle Sam to move rather slowly in "the parcel post matter.. He wants to find how popular" it will be, how much it will cost the government, and whether there is to be a profit or loss at thd end of each year. If it is found that the plan is successful from the point of view of the people, which means the government also, the parcel post will be extended until finally it reaches the proportions which its proponents say they believe it is destined to assume. ; Zone System Explained/' It is no exaggeration to say that thousands tfpon thousands of Inquiries have been made of the postmaster general as to just what the parcel post will mean to the people. It'was the law of congress establishing the system which made provision for a division of the country into zones and Into 85.000 units which are to be used as centers in describing the circles which mark the boundaries of the zones. There has been no clear understanding, apparently, of this tone system, but really it la a very simple matter. The accompanying map shows the country divided into tonne from the unit in which Washington is situated, as the center. Accompanying the map is a table showing the rate of postage per pound for parcels from Washington to places within all the tones. Each unit contains an area thirty miles square. Now each unit Is a center from which the zones are drawn and so every unit in the country no matter wberedt is situated will have zones drawn from it just exactly as Washington has them drawn from th Bgr leatasoe, take -Keetark. hr, which is in a unit in the fifth zone. From that will be drawn circles exactly as they are drawn from Washington and they will be numbered from * Keokuk as number one* just as they are numbered from Washington as number one. Of course, however, ' Zone Six will have a different geographical position as related to Keokuk than it has as related to Washington, but as the radius oP the circles drawn from Keokuk is the samp length as the radius of the circles drawn from Keokuk’s Zone Six will be just as far from Its center as Washington’s Zone Six is. How Ratos Are Fixed. It can be seen from this readMf enough that the postal rates from Washington to its particular sone will be the same as the postal rates from I eokuk to its particular zones. Each unit being about thirty miles square will of course contain tn most cases a number of postofllces, but each office in the same unit is considered as being the center of the circles from which the zones are drawn. The rates of postage are fixed from the unit in which the sending postqffice is situated, but the price to every place hi any ione Is Just the same. To Illustrate, it will cost exactly the same amount to send a parcel from Washington to Erie. Pa., that it costs to send It to Atlanta. Ga.. because Erie aad Atlanta with reference to Washington are situated In the fourth

zone. The rates therefore are fixed from the unit In which the postoffice is located, but they are the same from that office to any point in any one zone. It will be seen by reference to the table of rates of postage that it will cost more per pound to send a pack age a long distance than it does to send it a short distance. The rate increases for a package weighing one pound at the rate of one cent for each zone. No package weighing more than 11 pounds .can be sent under the new parcel post law. It should be said right here that on the long hauls the parcel post may not be able to compete with the express companies, but that on shorter hauls it can so compete. It was the expressed desire of the legislators and of-the postoffice officials that the parcel pest system should be made of particular use to persons having farm and factory products to transmit to customers. It is probable that producers must study the rabes of postage and the convenience of transmittal and compare them with the cost-and convenience under present methods before individually a man can determine whether he is to profit or not by the change. Then there is another thing to be considered 'and which only can be known definitely when fuller regulations have been made to specify exactly what kind of things can be sent by parcel post. It can be said in a general way that anything can be sent which is properly wrapped and which will not injure other mail matter with which it may come in contact. Copy Foreign Countries. It is probable that the government will adopt a means of transportation for certain kinds of its merchandise much like those which have been adopted in parcel post countries abroad. What the English call hampers, basket-like arrangements, probably will be adopted, and as these can be kept separate from the ordinary mall matter it is believed that the regulations as finally adopted will allow the sending of eggs, butter, dressed poultry, live poultry, honey, fruit, and other products of the country.

- The 11-pound limit for a single package may work at first against any very extended use of the parcel post for some of the articles which have been named. Of course, more weight can be sent if it is sent in different parcels, but the cost in that case would be heavier because the increase per pound on a single package is not great up to 11 pounds, and probably it would increase at no greater rate if the government were to raise the limit of weight which is now fixed. To make it simpler, it will cost more to send two packages of 11 pounds than it would to send one package of 22 pounds if the government eventually should allow a heavier single package to be carried and should charge in proportion just what It does now for one package of 11 pounds weight Every postmaster in the United States wllkdSave a parcel post map like the one which is here reproduced except that the zone lines will be shown with the unit of his postoffice pa a wUw —AU that -postmaster will have to do when a parcel is presented for transportation is to find out In what zone the destination of the package lies. His table will show him Instantly the rate per pound from

the unit In which his postoffice lies] to the zone of the package’s deetina- | tlons,. the price as has been explained before, to every postoffice in any one zone being the same. The parcel post will take nothjng but fourth-class matter. Printed matter is still in the third-class designation. Therefore books cannot be sent by the parcel post system. This the postofflce authorities seem to think is in a way unjust and may work a hardship. It may be that in the future the law will be changed so as to include all printed matter. It seems to be certain that an attempt will be made to bring about this change as speedily as possible. Postmaster General Hitqhcock has ordered that postmasters be advised that parcel post packages cannot be accepted for mailing unless they bear a distinctive parcel post stamp and have attached to them the return card of the sender. A series of distinctive stamps is now in course of preparation for this class of mall as required by the law creating the parcel post system. Consignments of these stamps will be ready for shipment to all postoffices in ample time for the establishment of the new system on New Year’s day. The postoffice department has given instruction to every postmaster tn the country to enlighten his patrons as much as possible on the general subject of the parcel post and especially on the use of the special stamps and the necessary attachment of the return card. The law requires that all fourth-class matter mailed B'ier January 1, 1913. without parcel post stamps attached shall be treated as "Held for postage" matter. Parcel post packages will be mailable only at postofllces, branch postoffices, lettered and local named stations, and such numbered stations as may be designated b£ the postmasters. Rate oh Seeds Not Affected. It should be said that the act of congress which puts a parcel post plan into operation does not in any way affect the postage rate on seeds, cuttings, bulbs, roots, scions and plants as fixed by section 482 of the postal laws and regulations.

The classification of articles mailable as well as the weight limit, the rates of poutage, zone or zones and other conditions of mallability under the act of congress, if the postmaster general shall find on experience “that they or any of them are such as to prevent the shipment of articles desirable, or shall permanently render the cost of the service greater than the receipts of the revenue therefrom, be is hereby authorized, subject to the consent of the interstate commerce commission after investigation, to reform from time to time such classification. weight limit, rates, zone or zones or conditions, In order to promote the service to the public or to insure the receipt of revenue from such service adequate to pay the cost thereof." Through many years different members of the house and senate have been interested in promoting parcel post legislation. Among the men most active in securing the legislation w fitch sooirts- -to- go tete wffee* -aslaw are Senator Jonathan Bourne of Oregon, Representatives David J. Lewis of Maryland and William Sulzer of New York, who has just been elected governor of that state.